Half-Oregon Tour

Katie's here from Georgia and we've been busy doing a driving tour of Oregon. Ironically, I thought she was to fly in mid-afternoon on Friday but when I woke up early that morning (dehydrated and with a headache after a totally fun night of bowling and brews with my cousin and Tall D's two apartment mates), I re-checked her itinerary and discovered her flight landed mid-morning. Ensue throwing items into bags, fixing coffee, loading up the car, watering the plants/feeding animals....and then heading for the airport! :)

Picked Miss Katie up and then we headed to SE PDX for breakfast at Jam (amazing french toast--delicious!) before heading south on the interstate. After a quick stop at the North Face Outlet and Freddies, we kept driving until we arrived at my hometown on the coast. A quick trip to pick up new running goods and then we headed to my alma mater for the civil war football game with the cross-town rivals. We won by a large margin and after the game Katie and I headed onto the field to say quick hellos to hometown friends and love on Tall D's godkid. On the field I also ran into an old buddy of mine--someone I haven't talked to since I married and it was great to be able to smooth over some rippled water...and hopefully he and I will be able to restore an old friendship.

Saturday morning K and I were treated to breakfast goodies provided by Dad, before swinging through a coffee stand on our way out to the beach and a quick tour of the local coastal areas:

Katie's first time in the Pacific

Ships in one of the local harbors

We got to see one of my favorite off-shore reefs that is home to a whole host of barking sea lions and seals year round:

After a quick return to load the Sorento and wish my parents well, we hit the road toward Central Oregon:

Umpqua River--which I've decided I definitely need to explore further

And then we made it to Crater Lake:

We'd talked about camping, but I was worried that Miss K might get too cold at night, so after snapping numerous photos and a LONG trip to the gift shop, we headed for Bend in Central Oregon. We rented a hotel room, walked to dinner and large beers at Applebees, and then glorious showers later...we hopped into our beds...and I relished in finding Stella happily getting her groove back via a little help from Taye Diggs and TBS. 

This morning we checked out and hit up McKay Cottage for a delicious breakfast, mimosas, and coffee on the lawn. We made a stop for photos at Odgen Bridge (overlooking a 300ft drop to the Crooked River) and Smith Rock State Park:

Back in the car, we continued on our loop toward Portland with a stop at Mt Hood's Timberline Lodge:

The view from the Lodge.

Looking up at Mt Hood.

Katie got to deposit one of her trackables in the geocache.

And then after all that, we headed for home....with a quick stop downtown for happy hour at one of my favorite places: Jake's Crawfish (amazing happy hour food & drinks!) and a quick trip through Powell's (used & new bookstore that takes up an entire city block downtown). I made K promise to keep me empty handed, and she did a great job of holding me to that while only picking up a needed vet tech dictionary for her program.

Back at the house, unloaded the car, took care of my thirsty critters, did some laundry, and then we called it a night fairly early. In a lot of ways it's been really great to have a visitor--given me an excuse to explore and share more of this beautiful state. I'd never been to Crater Lake nor up to Mt Hood, and I found other areas of Oregon that I'd seriously love to explore further (hiking the Umpqua trail by chance?!) There are other areas I'd love to show her, but there isn't enough time and by now we're both pretty tired! Two more days together to take care of some general needs and explore/share Portland....and then Miss Katie will be already leaving! SO GLAD TO HAVE HER HERE!